Two years ago, the Stanley Cup champion came out of the Central Division. And although this grouping of teams does still have some tough outs within it, it also has a few others who have greatly disappointed and are trying to find a way back from the wilderness.
As we close out our look across each division at a player who must deliver for every team, we wrap up with the Central.
ARIZONA COYOTES
Amidst more celebrated rookies such as Matty Beniers, Mason McTavish, Wyatt Johnston et al., Arizona’s Matias Maccelli finished second overall in scoring among first-year players, and actually ranked first in the group by points per game (0.77). If you’re a fantasy player, the 22-year-old Maccelli ended up being a nice sleeper pickup, but he shouldn’t catch anyone by surprise this season.
After his breakout season, the Coyotes signed up Maccelli to a three-year extension worth $3.425 million per season. The Coyotes don’t have a ton invested in this roster long-term yet, and Maccelli is one of just five skaters signed through at least 2026. At some point over the life of his contract, the Coyotes might be hoping to start moving up in the standings — will Maccelli be a big part of that? His last season was a great start and the young Coyotes need him to build from there.
CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS
Fair or not for a rookie with the weight of a big market on his shoulders, all eyes are going to be on Connor Bedard this season, the pressure on him to perform immediately. Betting lines expect Bedard to score over 30 goals and 70 points, which would rank as a top-seven or so season by a rookie since 2005-06.
In Chicago, Bedard won’t have a ton of high-end help after the team tore down for a rebuild and then lost cornerstones Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews over the summer. Taylor Hall might be the veteran winger charged with being Bedard’s main linemate (we’ll see), but hitting on expectations in Year 1 will be no small task. The world is expected of Bedard and, of course, the Hawks need him to deliver.
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COLORADO AVALANCHE
The Avs have experienced a little roster attrition, losing J.T. Compher at centre and the productive Evan Rodrigues. They’ll still be without winger and captain Gabriel Landeskog the entire season as well, so Colorado will be looking to new faces to contribute in important ways.
One of the additions the Avs made was acquiring Ryan Johansen from Nashville, in a salary dump move, for Alex Galchenyuk. In Colorado, Johansen’s full cap hit will be halved down to $4 million, but filling in at the second-line centre role, the Avs will be hoping he can return some value and approach being a 60-point player again. Just two years ago, Johansen recaptured that production, but he fell off again to just 28 points in 55 games last season. Which version will the Avs get in 2023-24?
DALLAS STARS
Ever since he first stepped into the NHL in 2018-19, Miro Heiskanen has been a special talent, but his big breakout didn’t occur until last season, when he finished with 73 points in 79 games and averaged over 25 minutes a night for the first time. In a year when there were so many strong showings from blue-liners — seven reached at least 70 points — Heiskanen finished only seventh in the Norris race, but he’s bound to garner more attention in the future.
Could this be the year? The 24-year-old Heiskanen is a leading part of a dangerous looking Stars lineup that could be on the cusp of its own big breakthrough after reaching the conference final in 2023 and lasting six games against Vegas. If so, Dallas will need Heiskanen to repeat what he did last season, and maybe even exceed it to be a leader in awards talk.
MINNESOTA WILD
Filip Gustavsson was found money for the Wild last season, acquired in a trade for Cam Talbot after the veteran wanted to go somewhere where he’d get a starter’s workload. The Sens decided to give Gustavsson up because he hadn’t inspired much confidence with an 18-game, .892 save percentage 2021-22 season.
In Minnesota, though, Gustavsson excelled to finish with a 22-9-7 record, .931 save rate and 2.10 GAA, which might have garnered Vezina attention had he played more than split duty with Marc-Andre Fleury. That performance led the Wild to sign Gustavsson to a three-year contract, and now he’s in position to neatly and fully take over for Fleury if the veteran decides to retire or move on when his contract expires next summer. Is Gustavsson as good as he looked last season, is he closer to what he showed in Ottawa, or something in between?
NASHVILLE PREDATORS
Barry Trotz is now in the GM’s chair and in his first off-season presiding over a roster that just missed the playoffs and hasn’t won a series since 2018, he targeted and signed the likes of Ryan O’Reilly, Gustav Nyquist and Luke Schenn, so we’re thinking the post-season is a target again. If that’s the case, there is clearly one player the Predators need to be there for them to reach those high expectations.
Juuse Saros is the runaway MVP of this team and the only reason it even qualified for the playoffs two years ago. Without Saros, the Preds would have a streak of post-season whiffs. Even as the team missed out by three points last season, Saros still finished third in Vezina Trophy voting with a .919 save percentage with the heaviest workload in the NHL — no goalie played more games or saw more shots than Saros. Without him at that level, the Preds are already out.
ST. LOUIS BLUES
More is needed from Jordan Binnington in 2023-24 as the $6-million goalie has seen a clear decline in save percentage and sharp rise in GAA in each of the past four seasons. Last year, Binnington played 61 games and finished with a save percentage below .900 for the first time, and the Blues as a team had a better overall save percentage than only San Jose, Vancouver, Seattle and Columbus.
Still signed for four years, it’s crucial for Binnington to bounce back if the Blues are going to recover their window with a roster that is still young enough to do it. Joel Hofer is Binnington’s backup, a 23-year-old with eight games of experience, so it’s likely the No. 1 will carry a heavy workload once more. On the horizon in 2025, perhaps, is some sort of best-on-best international tournament and Binnington has some work to do if he’s to claim Canada’s top job.
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WINNIPEG JETS
As we await some sort of finality on Connor Hellebuyck or Mark Scheifele as they enter the final year of their contracts, we look forward to one new player who was brought in via a summer blockbuster. Gabriel Vilardi is Winnipeg’s breakout player candidate and because the 24-year-old is directly replacing Pierre-Luc Dubois down the middle of the lineup, the Jets need him to be an important factor immediately.
Vilardi took a step last season, improving his career highs to 23 goals and 41 points, and he should be in great position to take another within the Jets’ top six. Without it, Winnipeg’s top six will suddenly get thin — especially if its hand is forced to trade out Scheifele at some point.
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